I have always loved Lang’s poetry, ever since I can remember knowing it existed. I used to read her work over and over as a teen, getting lost in how emotive and haunting it was. When I saw that she was releasing a new collection, I couldn’t wait to read it, and was so grateful to get my hands on it. She’s been sitting on some of this work for a decade, but man, was it worth the wait.

Greet the world with no expectation.
Love as though you have never been hurt or betrayed.
Let go of the ones who take so much from you
yet offer nothing in return.

This is how you take back your power.

Lang writes of love and loss, grief and healing, power and weakness, and she switches flawlessly between poetry and prose. Her words are full of impact across every single page, and unlike many poets I enjoy, I never find her writing to be repetitive. She is confident and wise in much of this collection, offering gentle mentoring that we all need from time to time.

If you’re a fan of poetry, if you’re someone who’s loved and lost, or even if you’re just looking for a book to make you feel, the emotions that Lang describes are universal, powerful, and her delivery is perfection. I highly recommend picking this collection up.

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing for granting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

7 thoughts on “Sea of Strangers – Lang Leav (ARC Review)”

Lovely review Destiny! I just started reading poetry last year & my bff Gretchen has recommended Lang a few times now. Thank you for including the excerpt, I am def going to look into this poet, I love haunting anything! so I’m definitely intrigued now 🙂

Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy it if you do check it out. 🙂 If you want more examples of her work before committing to a full collection, there are soooo many little quote graphics floating around with her poems! She’s been writing for a while!

I’ve been trying out some poetry collections since last year and the only one I’ve enjoyed so far is ‘Don’t call us dead’ but I’ve been wanting to read more and this sounds perfect! I love the snippets you’ve posted, this sounds like something I’d enjoy 😀